China indicts activist who backed press freedom

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BEIJING (AP) — A lawyer for the prominent Chinese activist Yang Maodong says Yang has been indicted on the charge of gathering crowds to disrupt public order more than 10 months after he was taken into police custody.

The indictment of Yang, better known for his pen name Guo Feixiong, is the latest in a string of prosecutions of activists who have criticized the policies and practices of China’s government under President Xi Jinping.

Shanghai-based lawyer Zhang Xuezhong said Yang’s charge largely stems from an incident in early 2013 when he joined crowds of people who rallied outside a Chinese newspaper to support press freedom during the paper’s dispute with government censors.

Zhang said Tuesday that Yang will stand trial in the southern city of Guangzhou, most likely this summer.

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